World Series-bound

On Friday, Hopewell Valley Babe Ruth will begin by playing Ohio team in Virginia baseball competition

Hopewell Valley’s 13-year-old Babe Ruth Baseball team left for Loudoun County, Va., today (Wednesday) to compete in the 13-year-old World Series. The boys — District One, Southern New Jersey and Middle Atlantic Regional Champions — will begin the first round Friday with a game against the Ohio Valley Regional Champions. They also will play the Southwest Regional Champions, the Midwest Plains Regional Champions and the host team from Loudoun County during the pool play round. The top three teams from each of the two pools advance to play in single elimination games. The World Series Championship game is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 24. Shown in the photo, just before they left a crowd of well-wishers at Hopewell Valley Central High School, are: (from left, front) Donny Giordano, Dylan Yuska, Nick Gies and Coach Tom Croak; (second row) Coach Scott Crivelli, Keith Devlin, Drew Crivelli, Brooks Bachinoff, Tim Andrews and John Croak; (back row) Manager Tim Patnick, Alex Rhoads, Mike Hartel, Evan Miller and Jason Patnick. See this week’s Sports section for details.